Tag: Amirah Ali

Watch: Amirah Ali scores go-ahead goal for San Diego Wave

WATCH: Former Rutgers women’s soccer Amirah Ali scored her second career goal in the NSWL

Former Rutgers women’s soccer star, Amirah Ali, is starting to make her presence felt in the professional ranks. She has spent her 2022 season with the National Women’s Soccer League’s San Diego Wave FC.

On Sunday night, Ali scored in the 66th minute. The Wave were adding pressure in the second half of a tie game. Ali’s teammate and National Team/Olympic star Alex Morgan received a pass in the box. Morgan shot wide, but teammate Makenzy Doniak was ready and kept the ball near the net with a strong header. Ali had crashed the net and put the ball high over the keeper’s leg for her second career goal.

Amirah was originally drafted by the Portland Thorns. During the NWSL expansion draft, Ali was traded with another player in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money. Ali was the Thorns’ third-round selection in the 2021 NWSL draft and finished her senior season with Rutgers in the Women’s College Cup last season.

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Ali was a strong contributor for Rutgers in one of the most successful seasons in program history. She received numerous honors in her senior season – including 2021 College Cup All-Tournament Team, All-America Third Team, All-Region First Team, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, All-Big Ten First Team, Academic All-Big Ten, and was named 2021 Big Ten Player to Watch prior to the season’s start.

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With teammates like Alex Morgan, Ali will have plenty of opportunity to shine and continue to grow under incredible guidance. She will be worth watching closely all season long.

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Two Scarlet Knights Nominated for 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year

Rutgers athletes Amirah Ali and Gianna Glatz have been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Two women representing Rutgers athletics received a great honor this week. Amirah Ali from the women’s soccer team and Gianna Glatz from the field hockey team have both been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

The award was established in 1991. It is intended to recognize female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics, and in academics throughout their college careers. To be eligible, a nominee must have competed and earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sponsored sport and must have earned her undergraduate degree by Summer 2022.

Both student-athletes are not new to receiving accolades. Ali was named a 2021 Third-Team All American, making her the program’s first four-time All-American. Meanwhile the Voorhees, New Jersey native registered career single-season highs in points with 30, goals with 12, and assists with 6. She also became the first five-time All-Region honoree in program history.

Glatz – a Medford, New Jersey native – was the top goalkeeper in the nation last season. She was a three-time All-American, four-time First Team All-Big Ten and four-time First Team All-Region. Glatz also won the 2021 Big Ten Co-Player of the Year and Regional Player of the Year. Glatz finished the season with her best career save percentage at 79.6 percent while going 17-4 in 21 games.

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Before a winner is chosen, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee identifies the Top 30 nominees – 10 from each division –and from there they select three finalists from each division. The committee then selects the NCAA Woman of the Year from one of those nine finalists. For the first time in the award’s history, the award ceremony will take place during the NCAA Convention in January.

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Rutgers women’s soccer dominates Big Ten honors

Rutgers women’s soccer sees nine honored with Big Ten awards.

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It isn’t a surprise that Rutgers women’s soccer has nearly a clean sweep of the end-of-season awards for the Big Ten this year. Especially given the year the program just had.

The Scarlet Knights finished the regular season 15-2 and 10-0 in the Big Ten, the first time since Penn State in 2005 that a women’s soccer team didn’t drop a point in conference play.

As such, Mike O’Neill was named the conference’s coach of the year as Rutgers captured their first-ever Big Ten title. In fact, it was the first conference title for Rutgers since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Six players were named All-Big Ten led by first-team selections senior forward Amirah Ali (First Team), freshman midfielder Riley Tiernan (First Team), senior forward Frankie Tagliaferri (First Team) and defender Gabby Provenzano (First Team). Sophomore defender Becci Fluchel (Second Team) and goalkeeper Meagan McClelland (Third Team) round out the team selections for Rutgers.

Senior Shea Holland was given the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

 

Tagliaferri, a transfer from Penn State, was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year while Provenzano, the team’s captain, was the Big Ten Defender of the Year.

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year was fittingly given to Tiernan, who was a revelation on the wing with four goals and 10 assists. In addition to the individual honor, Tiernan along with midfielder Kylie Daigle and defender Kassidy Banks were selected to the All-Freshman Team.